What Happens in Lima Doesn't Stay in Lima
by Pjo06
Summary: Finn is heart broken when RAchel leaves for New York. Finn decides to follow her to with the help of his step brother. Will Finn be abl to find her once he gets there?


i

His heart stings. It burns. He just wants to go home and cry. But that's what he's doing right now. That's all he has been doing for the past few days even though she only left yesterday. He didn't go to her house the day she left. He couldn't take it. He barley eats. He barley sleeps and when he does it's only because he cried himself to sleep. Everyone tells him everything is going to be fine but he knows he it won't be. But that's love for Finn Hudson.

She stayed true to her word. It was the day after graduation when Finn went over to her house. He knocked on the door like he always did. Her dad answered it like he always did. He walked up to Rachel's room like he always did. But there was something different when he walked into Rachel's room. She was folding her clothes and putting them away in a large pink suitcase.

He had forgotten that this was going to happen. He had been having such a great time in his senior year he had forgotten Rachel's promise to leave Lima, Ohio. And now he was sitting here on his bed crying because she was gone and she was never coming back. Not for her dad's and not for him.

Of course Finn wasn't the only one who had cried. Her dads had shed just as many tears as he had and so had Rachel. Rachel was lucky though. She had the beautiful city of New York to distract her from her pain but Finn had nothing. He was going to Ohio State in the fall but knowing that she wouldn't be there had made his heart ache even more.

ii

Puck texts him:

_Ur mom told me u have been crying._

_Don't cry over just because she's gone._

_Man up Hudson._

_-Puck_

That just makes him cry harder.

Kurt asks him I he wants to go see a movie but he turns it down. His mom asks him if he wants to go shopping but he doesn't want new clothes. His step father asks him if he wants to go to a baseball game but he only wants to focus on Rachel.

He's been in his room for three days now. He only leaves to take showers and to go to the bathroom. He sneaks down during the nights to get food. Finn doesn't sing anymore. He doesn't want to sing. He won't sing with anyone but Rachel. Everyone tells him that he should go out and get some exercise but Finn doesn't want to go anywhere if Rachel isn't there.

One day Kurt comes into his room. "You can't sit there for the rest of your life Finn," He says, "It's not going to bring Rachel back." Finn doesn't feel like talking right now so Kurt heads towards the door but stops before exiting, "If you really love her you would go after her." Kurt leaves Finn by himself again.

iii

He has his door locked. He quickly stuffs his jacket in his old duffel bag along with three shirts and two pairs of pants. He checks the time. The clock reads 1:27 am. Everyone in the house is asleep. They expect him to be there when they wake up but he won't be. He doesn't want to be.

He sneaks downstairs. On the kitchen counter is a plate of cookies. He grabs one and reaches in the fridge to get some milk. He was on screwing the cap of the milk carton when he hears someone behind him, "You better not drink right out of that carton Finn Hudson." Finn turns around to see his step brother standing there in a blue robe. "So are you going to go after her?" Kurt asks. Finn nods. "A few hours ago she texted me and told me she was at the only motel in New Castle, Pennsylvania but she told me not to text her because she doesn't want to get in an accident." Rachel had told Finn not to call her or text her either. In fact she said that they shouldn't talk for a while. "Go and find her and tell her I said hello when you see her." Finn reached out and hugged his brother. Kurt went back up stairs.

Finn wrote a little note and placed it on the counter. He looked around the house one more time and then headed out to his truck. He put the key in, started up the car and then backed out of the driveway leaving his house in the darkness.

iiii

When Carole wakes up in the morning she always peeks into Finn's room to see how he's doing. When she got up this morning she put on her blue slippers and a blue robe. She went into the bathroom to fix her hair a little and then left the bedroom, with her husband still sound asleep. She walked down the hallway towards Finn's room. There were no sounds of sorrow coming from his room so she assumed he was asleep. She looked into the room but Finn wasn't there.

_Maybe he has finally come out of his room_ Carole thought. She passed Kurt's room which had a sticky not on the door.

_Gone to Blaine's house for the day_

_-love Kurt_

She continued down the stairs. It was quiet. There wasn't a sign of a teenage boy around here. She walked into the kitchen and saw the plate of cookies she had made the night before. There was a half-eaten cookie and another sticky note. Carole quickly read the note.

_Dear mom,_

_Don't worry about me I'll be alright._

_I've gone to find Rachel._

_I love her and I don't want to leave her. _

_What happens in Lima WILL NOT stay in Lima._

_-Finn_

Carole did cry. She cried until Burt came down and comforted her. "He's going to come back. He'll be fine," Burt said, "He's all grown up now." Burt and Carole looked out the window hoping that Finn would be safe.

v

He had wanted to drive all morning but he couldn't. He hadn't realized how tired he was until he was an hour away from home. Finn had pulled over to an old motel and rented a room. The room was disgusting. There were stains on the walls that he hoped were just mud. There was a lamp that didn't work and a couch that had stuffing coming out of it.

The bed wasn't much better. The sheets had holes in them and were stained with dark spots all over. As soon as Finn flopped down on the bed dust came out from under the sheets. Finn didn't care. All he cared about was getting Rachel back. That's all he wanted. That's all he ever wanted. Finn fell asleep.

vi

He was awakened by someone knocking on the door. He glanced at the clock which read 8:27 am. He got up to see who was at the door. There was a woman about thirty years old standing there. "Excuse me," the woman said, "I'm staying in the room next door and I was wondering if you own a red pickup truck." Finn nodded. "Well they towed it." The woman left and went back to her room. Finn stood there not knowing what had just happened. Then it suddenly kicked in. He must have been so tired last night that he didn't see the "no parking at any time sign" where he parked his car.

Finn ran towards the road and saw a tow truck pulling his truck away. "That's my car!" Finn yelled, "Come back!"

vii

It was 1:35 by the time Finn had gotten his truck back and was back on the road. He had just crossed the border into Pennsylvania. It would only take fifteen more minutes to get to New Castle. She hoped she was still there.

When he arrived in New Castle he stopped for gas at a gas station across from a motel. Kurt had said there was only one motel in the area. He looked across the street and saw a car. Not just any car but her car. Rachel's car. Finn took the pump out of his car got in and drove across the street to the motel. When he was getting out of his car, he saw someone leaving there room. They walked to Rachel's car, got in, and drove away.

That meant only one thing that wasn't Rachel's car and Rachel wasn't here anymore.

viii

Finn went into the motel office. "Hello sir," the lady at the front desk said, "Are you here to check out a room." "No," Finn said, "I need to if someone stayed here or not." "I'm sorry sir," the lady said apologetically, "I'm not allowed to give information about any guests. Now, if you're not going to check out a room, please move so that the other people can check in." Finn looked behind him and noticed a small line forming behind him.

"Please," Finn pleaded, "I need to know if there was a girl named Rachel Berry staying here." "Like I said sir, I can't tell you," the lady said. "I need to know where she is," Finn said, "I love her and I have to find her!" some of the women in the line sighed at Finn's romantic gesture towards Rachel. The lady took pity on Finn, "Okay, let me check" The lady clicked around on the computer in front of her. "Yes, there was a girl by the name of Rachel Berry staying here but she checked out about two hours ago.

viiii

Kurt and Blaine were sitting together watching a The Sound of Music when Kurt's phone rang. Kurt checked it. Finn had sent him a text:

_She's not here._

_Where is she?_

_-Finn_

x

Clearfield, Pennsylvania. Finn had been driving for an hour. It was about three o clock and he knew he was losing time. Finn hoped that Rachel would stop in Clearfield but he doubted it. It was only a two hour drive and it was just outside the center of Pennsylvania.

Finn was driving along interstate 80 and was thinking about Rachel. He couldn't think about anything other than her. What else was there to think about? Was she safe? Was she in danger? Was he going to be able to find her? Would he ever see Rachel again?

xi

He had arrived at Clearfield. He drove slowly through the town hoping to see her. Would he see her? He doubted there was no way he would be able to find her here so he kept driving. He wondered if he should turn back. He wasn't too far from home. No. He had to keep going if he loved Rachel he _should_ find her and he loved her so he _would_ find her.

He pulled to the side of the road to look at his map. Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania was where he was headed next. He didn't even think about texting Kurt to confirm that that was where she was headed next.

He continued along interstate 80. Rachel couldn't be too far ahead. She was probably already in Bloomsburg for all he knew. Hopefully she would be there when he got there. Even if she was there how would he find her? She had told him not to call or text him for a while.

He was almost to Bloomsburg when he had to stop and pull over. He was listening to the radio when their song came on. Don't stop Believing. Without thinking about it Finn started singing. When her part came on he waited for her to start singing. Then he remembered that she wasn't there anymore. He started crying. He pulled over to the side of the road. He just sat there for twenty minutes crying. He couldn't stop crying but he had to keep going if he was going to find Rachel.

xi

It was nine o'clock when Finn arrived in Bloomsburg. He wasn't feeling so good so he decided to rent a motel room for the night. The motel was right in the middle of the town. Finn walked into the room and saw that it was of much better quality than the last motel room. Finn immediately fell asleep.

xii

It was six in the morning when the room next door to Finn's opened. A young girl with a pink suitcase and a gold star on it closed the door to her room. She went to the office and turned her key. She went back to her car, stuffed her suitcase in the trunk, and got into the car.

She angled the mirror towards her and checked her make up. Then she quickly fixed her hair. "On to New York," she said to herself. She pulled out of the parking lot and drove off down the road, leaving the motel behind.

xiii

Finn woke up at seven in the morning. He was happy. He had had a wonderful dream. He had dreamed that Rachel had walked into his motel room and…never mind. Finn went into his duffel bag and produced a clean shirt and pants. He quickly slipped them on and was heading toward the motel office when his phone rang in his pocket. He checked his phone. Kurt was calling him.

"Hello?" Finn spoke into the phone. "Hey Finn," Kurt said, "Where are you?" "Oh I'm in Bloomsburg," Finn answered. There was a pause on the other end. "Oh," Kurt said. "What is it?" Finn asked. "Well Rachel texted me and said she had just left Bloomsburg. She was staying at a motel called the Stone Castle motel." Finn took in what he had just heard. Rachel had been here. Right here. In the same motel as him. "I have to go!" Finn said and quickly ended the call. He went to the office and turned in his room key. He went back out to his truck, got in and drove off. It was three hours from here to New York City. Rachel couldn't be too far ahead.

xiiii

Finn pulled off the highway and into the parking lot of a restaurant. He quickly rushed to the bathroom. After taking care of business Finn got out and went back to where his car was parked. Finn had to do a double take because his car was missing. "What the?" Finn said to no one in particular. He quickly scanned the parking lot. His car was nowhere to be seen.

"No," Finn muttered, "No, no, no, NO." This couldn't be happening. Not when he was so close. He flipped open his phone and called the police. "My car has been stolen," Finn said into his phone. Finn gave the officer information about his car. "Okay sir we'll try to find your car. It may take a couple of days," The officer said. "What!" Finn exclaimed, "I don't have a few days I need to get to New York City! What's the number for the taxi company?"

The officer gave Finn the information. Finn didn't care about his truck anymore he only cared about reaching Rachel in time. Finn waited in the parking lot for the taxi to come and pick him up. About a half an hour later a Taxi pulled into the parking lot. Finn ran over to it. "Are you Finn Hudson?" the taxi driver asked. "Yes," Finn answered. "Where to?" the taxi driver asked him. "New York City."

xv

It was 12:00 pm. The taxi was long gone and Finn was caught up in the bright lights of New York. The beauty of the city distracted Finn from why he was in New York City. Then he remembered. He had to find Rachel. He cleared his head. Then he realized something. He had no idea where Rachel was. There were over eight million people in this city. Rachel could be anywhere.

Finn needed to stop and think for a few minutes. He walked into a near bye coffee shop. He ordered a coffee and sat down at a table next to the window. He took his phone out of his pocket and texted Kurt.

_Hey im in NY do u know where Rach is?_

_-Finn_

A few minutes later Finn's phone rang. Kurt had texted back.

_She texted me and said that she was in NYC and then said she had to go._

_-Kurt_

Finn put his phone back down and ran his hand through his hair nervously. He had made it all the way here, to New York City, to get Rachel back and he didn't even know where she was.

xvi

He had been in the coffee shop for two hours not knowing what to do next. The shop owner came over to him. "Were closing up for the day," The man said, "You should probably go." Finn nodded and put his jacket on.

He stood up and was about to turn towards the manager to say goodbye when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. A flash of red and brown caught his eye. He spun around towards the window and saw a girl walk past. Not just any girl. It was Rachel. He ran out of the coffee shop.

Finn ran down the street calling out her name. He finally reached her and turned her around. Finn looked into her brown eyes. The look on her face was priceless. There was a mixture of confusion and excitement. "Finn?"

"I came back for you."


End file.
